One way to stop wars forever...

[Soph0571]

Eugene V. Debs

There is a fundamental truth here.

So this MUST be the plan for Iran...



Heh. Never going to happen. Fucking snowflake Nazi's every single one...

Instead...

"On the idle hill of summer,
Sleepy with the flow of streams,
Far I hear the steady drummer
Drumming like a noise in dreams.

Far and near and low and louder
On the roads of earth go by,
Dear to friends and food for powder,
Soldiers marching, all to die.

East and west on fields forgotten
Bleach the bones of comrades slain,
Lovely lads and dead and rotten;
None that go return again.

Far the calling bugles hollo,
High the screaming fife replies,
Gay the files of scarlet follow:
Woman bore me, I will rise."

A.E. Houseman, A Shropshire Lad

[Kid Berwyn]

1. "There are only two things we should fight for." -- Maj. Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.

SOURCE: http://fas.org/man/smedley.htm

Great OP, Soph057!

Readers can enjoy the good general's book, "War is a Racket," courtesy of Ratical: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

[Soph0571]

2. Thanks! and please call me Soph nt

[PatrickforO]

3. Great quote. I'm bookmarking this for its sake.

[smirkymonkey]

12. +1000

[keithbvadu2]

4. "THERE WON'T BE MANY COMING HOME" by Roy Orbison

"THERE WON'T BE MANY COMING HOME" by Roy Orbison

[keithbvadu2]

5. NOT Eric Trump - It ain't me.

NOT Eric Trump - It ain't me.

[rurallib]

6. one of the best threads ever on DU - Thank you

Phil Ochs:
"It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall"

[McKim]

7. I Would Like to Suggest an End to War

I would like to suggest an end to war as an international strategy. If we want oil we can pay countries for it. This is a lot cheaper than wars. We should focus on trade instead of war.
Iran is a country of 70 million people and we could be selling them air conditioners and refrigerators. Why are all our relationships about power and dominance instead of agreements and exchanges. War is so medieval!!!!! War destroys the environment and human lives. And paying for war is why we can’t have universal health care, a national train system, public urban transport, accessible education from preschool to university, community centers, libraries and cultural centers like they have in Europe.

[Delmette2.0]

16. +1,000

[Duppers]

19. Said as much

To hubs last night. He agrees.

[Traildogbob]

8. Ready to go

Looks like Eric is ready to go open a can of whoop ass. Now ya did it Iran. Look what's coming. Take that, wait till Jr, Ivanka and Jared suit up to come over. Your sand box is gonna get broken now. MAGA!

[Farmer-Rick]

9. Ivanka could also fight in the Army

She would be good cannon fodder.

[Traildogbob]

13. She could be in charge of spreading biological warfare.

Spread all the STD bugs daddy spread to her.

[smirkymonkey]

14. She and her brothers just came down with a bad case of "bone-spurs".

Jared too. I hear it's a genetic condition.

[llmart]

10. I hear Ted Nugent is ready...

to crap his pants again.

[Traildogbob]

15. Nuggent, Kid Rock, and the biggest weapon, Kanye

Bolten should be first. Never served, wets his panties daily at the thought of war. How about all the country singing Cowboys that wet their pants over Iraq war, now doing endless commercials to help vets? And condemned, destroyed the careers of Dixie Chicks. Go die for the trumps, sure, why wouldn't anyone.

[rickyhall]

11. Somebody said, "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?"

There was also a movie by the same name.

[brooklynite]

17. Socialists have never started wars? Good to know...

[gulliver]

18. Just create a bill that automatically funds all war with a tax on the rich.